Seeing Starz: “Black Sails” was one of her first auditions after she moved to Los Angeles in 2012, and she was certain that playing Eleanor would be fun. “When I read the script, I thought, ‘Wow, this is a real, ballsy female,’ ” New recalls.

Mother Knows Best: After New joined London’s National Youth Theatre at age 19, mentoring younger members in underprivileged areas around the world, she told her mother she wanted to become an actress. When the statement got only qualified approval, she listened to the reasons. “(Mom) said, ‘Why don’t you get a proper degree and learn languages, and you can work in two markets?’ ”

Se Habla Espanol: She studied Spanish and English literature at Leeds U., and after staking herself to drama classes in England thanks to a modeling career in Spain, she began to find roles on Spanish TV. The Spanish-language series she stars in — playing the forward-thinking Rosalinda — is slated to make its U.S. debut July 4 on streaming website DramaFever.

Pirate to Princess: The thesp realized her dream of working at Pinewood Studios when she played Sleeping Beauty’s mother, Princess Leila, opposite Jolie’s titular villain. “The script was just so interesting for me, to see where evil came from and to argue in a way, ‘Does true evil exist?’ ” Now, she, says, she’d like to trade in her fairy-tale garb for more contemporary roles — and possibly even play a superhero.